Ghoul of Steel
by TheKaizoku
Summary: In 2290, what remains of the Institute has collaborated with the Gunners, the largest gang in the Commonwealth. Together they've launched an offensive to weaken, if not destroy, the Brotherhood of Steel in the region. Paladin Ryan Vills, also known as the Ghoul of Steel, is all that remains between the Institute-Gunner alliance and their goal.
1. Chapter 1

Paladin Ryan Vills was one of the few, if not only member of the Brotherhood of Steel to be a ghoul. Born in 2250 in the Citadel, Ryan only became a ghoul when he was thirty in 2280, when he was a Knight Sergeant. Ryan and his squad of Knights were investigating a Raider hideout in the Capital Wasteland when one of the Raiders fired a Fat Man mini nuke at the squad of Knights. Ryan was the only one of the squad who made it out alive.

Normally the Brotherhood of Steel did not accept ghouls into their organisation, but Ryan was one of its most loyal and bravest members, even being a friend to the Lyons family, a prominent family in the Brotherhood. Thus they allowed Ryan to stay in the Brotherhood, though over the first few years Knight Sergeant Vills only embarked on solo missions.

Over the next ten years, Ryan ascended from Knight Sergeant to the rank of Paladin. He was now a part of the East Coast chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, spending most of his time aboard the Prydwen when he was not out on missions. Ryan had gained a considerable amount of reputation for himself over the years, being known throughout Brotherhood of Steel chapters scattered across America as the Ghoul of Steel.

Paladin Vills was in Cambridge Police Station, as he had been for the past few days. He had been sent there by Elder Arthur Maxson, head of the Brotherhood of Steel, after receiving disturbing reports of activity near the Brotherhood outpost.

It was early in the morning, and Paladin Vills was on patrol, dressed in BoS fatigues and armed with a modified laser rifle. He was on duty along with two Knights and an Initiate. The Knights were armed with laser rifles as well, though not modified, while the Initiate was using a hunting rifle.

The patrol spotted two Vertibirds in the distance, flying towards the outpost. The other three thought it was a Brotherhood Vertibird, but Ryan, having a heightened sense of sight, could make out the white skulls painted on the Vertibirds. The white skull symbols, which had 'X's on their foreheads, was the symbol of the Gunners, the largest criminal organisation in the Commonwealth.

"Gunners!" Ryan shouted. "They're Gunner Vertibirds! Sound the alarm!"

In less than two minutes, a small team of Knights and Paladins had gathered on the wall surrounding the courtyard of the station. In addition, there were two Paladins armed with missile launchers on the roof of the building, ready to fire at the Vertibirds.

With two well-placed shots from the missile launcher-wielding Paladins, the two Gunner Vertibirds were taken down. But that was only the first phase of the attack.

Simultaneously, a squad of Institute synths led by a Courser came and opened fire. The Brotherhood of Steel members were all surprised, as they had never seen the Institute fighting alongside the Gunners. But in a moment they recovered and returned fire.

The squad of synths were closed to being wiped out when a Generation 2 synth appeared on the roof of a nearby building, equipped with a Fat Man, a shoulder-mounted weapon that fired mini nukes, essentially a deadly weapon.

Being one of the first to spot the synth with the Fat Man, Paladin Vills yelled, "A synth with a Fat Man! Get to cover, now!" His hoarse, low voice was distinct and stood out from all the other noises.

While the others rushed for cover, Ryan finished off the last of the synths. He was a ghoul and immune to low levels of radiation, such as that from a mini nuke, so he had nothing to worry about.

As Ryan shot dead the Courser, who was the last surviving member of the squad of synths, the mini nuke slammed into the ground in the middle of the courtyard outside the police station. A good portion of the wall and platforms were blown apart, resulting in breaches for attackers to use. The platform Ryan was standing on was blown to the ground, causing him to fall off.

Two more squads of Institute synths arrived as well as two Gunner attack parties, each of which composed of four Gunners and an attack dog.

Minutes later, the surviving Paladins, Knights and Initiates were on top of the outpost, holding off the enemy until evacuation Vertibirds arrived. It would be near-impossible to fight off the enemy even with reinforcements since the Institute synths and Gunners kept pouring in.

Soon two BoS Vertibirds appeared. As the first Vertibird landed on the helipad, the second Vertibird remained in the skies, with two soldiers manning the two door-mounted miniguns and helping to reduce the enemy numbers.

The two Vertibirds were not able to take all the personnel at the outpost, so more Vertibirds had to be called in to evacuate the remaining men, most of whom were combat personnel.

Not long after the second Vertibird departed, two more Brotherhood of Steel Vertibirds came. The same procedure was repeated and all personnel stationed at Cambridge Police Station was able to be evacuated by the fourth Vertibird. Ryan found himself manning one of the two door-mounted miniguns on the last Vertibird as it made its way to the Prydwen.

Along the way, the third and fourth Vertibirds were attacked by a single Gunner Vertibird. Ryan unloaded a few dozen bullets on the enemy Vertibird, bringing it out of the sky.

Back at the Prydwen, the evacuated personnel were treated for their injuries. Meanwhile, Ryan made his way to the Main Command Deck, where Elder Arthur Maxson was.

"Elder Maxson," Ryan called out, seeing that the Elder was in thought.

He looked up and around, trying to see who had called him. Then he saw the ghoul in fatigues and armed with a laser rifle. "Paladin Vills, I see that you have returned from the police station safe and sound. Would you tell me what happened there?"

Over the next few minutes Ryan told Elder Maxson the events at the police station. Elder Maxson was surprised at what Ryan told him, as evidence by a raised eyebrow from him.

"An alliance between the Gunners and the Institute? This is completely unheard of. Desperate times call for desperate measures, that must have been their thinking," Elder Maxson said. "We must retake Cambridge Police Station as soon as possible. It is an important location to us, and I heard that most of the power armour was left behind there."

"But Elder, with all respect, if the remnants of the Institute and the Gunners have teamed up, I doubt that taking over one outpost is all they're going to do," Ryan reasoned. "Together their firepower is a worthy adversary for us, that I'm sure they know as well."

"That means naturally they will try to rid of all the influence we have in the Commonwealth," Elder Maxson nodded his head, beginning to understand what Ryan was talking about.

Ryan continued, "And one of the only other places in the whole of the Commonwealth where the Brotherhood has considerable influence is…Diamond City."


	2. Chapter 2

In less than half a day, a squad of Knights and Paladins had been sent to Diamond City to reinforce the Brotherhood of Steel soldiers already in the city. The squad was led by Ryan himself, who was the only one in the squad not wearing power armour.

Diamond City security was also informed of the current events, so they could help out as well. They were a reasonably strong force, with pipe rifles and upgraded baseball bats in their arsenal, along with decently armoured uniforms.

Late at night on the same day, Ryan was patrolling the outskirts of Diamond City, accompanied by a Diamond City security officer. While patrolling, both of them spotted a Vertibird landing on the top of a building a street or two away from their location. Ryan could just make out the contrast between a patch of white on the aircraft and the dark colour of its exterior.

"A Gunner Vertibird," Ryan told the security officer. "We need to inform the others, now."

The security officer nodded in reply and began running back to the city. Ryan quickly followed along.

Back in the Green Jewel, Ryan and the security officer recounted what they had seen to the others.

"Sounds like a location for that Institute-Gunner alliance to gather," a Knight commented.

One of the Diamond City security officers added, "They might be planning an attack on the city, since the building was quite near."

Nodding in agreement at both men's words, Ryan said, "We need to strike before they attack us. Kill or be killed. I say we strike now."

At approximately midnight, a small but deadly force of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers and security officers made their way to the building where the two had seen the Gunner Vertibird land on. Some of the men were left behind, as there was a possibility that Diamond City could be attacked while they were gone.

Roughly twenty men closed in on the building, which was being guarded by two synths. The synth guards were obliterated before they even knew it. "Ad Victoriam!" Ryan roared before charging through the front doors.

The lobby of the building, which had been a hotel before the Great War, soon became a warzone. Synths and Gunners, of which there were plenty of in the building, were trying to defend their temporary base against the Brotherhood soldiers and security officers, who had the element of surprise when they attacked.

Ryan determined that it would be near-impossible to clear the building with them alone. They needed assistance, and he knew just where to get the assistance.

"Knight Sergeant Gavil! Knight Rhys! To me, now!" Ryan called out the first two names that came to his mind.

In a few moments three Knights in full power armour showed up around Ryan. Acknowledging their presence with a nod, Ryan explained, "Follow me to the roof. I need to call in support."

Looking around them, the Knights agreed with Ryan. Despite having the element of surprise earlier on, their numbers were reducing by the minutes, and there was no telling how many synths and Gunners were in the building.

It was not too difficult getting up to the roof because most were focusing on the battle in the lobby. Though by the time the four got up to the top their power armour was ridden with not a few bullets and Ryan was exhausted.

Opening a pouch that was sown to his fatigues, Ryan took out a signal grenade. He gestured for the Knights to step back as he threw it onto the floor, detonating it.

Fortunately reaction was swift. Within five minutes, two BoS Vertibirds took turns to land on the helipad and deposit soldiers, of which both aircraft were full of.

"One of the Vertibirds should stay here," Ryan said. "In case we have casualties that require medical attention, then the Vertibird can bring those casualties back to the Prydwen."

"Good suggestion, Paladin Vills," the pilot of the currently-landed Vertibird praised. "This is Victoriam One, remaining at location under recommendation of Paladin Vills. We will be transporting casualties to the Prydwen if needed."

Since only one Vertibird was needed at the moment, the remaining Vertibird decided to head for nearby Diamond City, where it would wait until it was called for.

With two new teams of combat personnel armed and ready entering the warzone, the synths and Gunners were starting to retreat. However, there was no place for them to retreat since they were surrounded, with the new arrivals coming from above while those already there at the exit of the building.

All remaining synths were killed due to their inability to surrender as well as the Brotherhood's hatred for them. Meanwhile the surviving Gunners were captured in the hope that they would be able to provide vital information.

Both the casualties and captured Gunners were placed on board of the two Vertibirds, departing for the Prydwen. Those that did not have as serious injuries walked back to Diamond City. There was no 'uninjured' in the battle because everyone was hit at least once, whether by a bullet or a melee weapon.

Once the others had made it back safely to Diamond City, Ryan made his way to Chestnut Hillock Reservoir, which was not that far out from the city. The reason he went there was because he needed to recover from his injuries. The water at the reservoir was known to be irradiated and it was a widely-known fact that radiation was able to heal ghouls.

Stopping by the water, Ryan started splashing water on his face, enjoying the coolness it brought. He was feeling better already. Ryan lingered around for a few more minutes before returning to Diamond City.


	3. Chapter 3

Resting the rest of the night away when he got back to Diamond City, Ryan awoke to the sound of someone calling his name.

Waking up, Ryan found that it was a Knight who had been calling him. "What is it, Knight?"

"Proctor Ingram is looking for you. She's waiting outside as we speak," the Knight informed him.

"Oh boy, this can't be good," Ryan mumbled. Getting changed and ready, Ryan went out to meet with Proctor Ingram.

Proctor Ingram began immediately, not wanting to waste time. "Paladin Vills, Your presence is needed at Recon Bunker Theta. We have received…reports from the personnel stationed there. You will know once you get there. A Vertibird is waiting for you right outside Diamond City."

True enough, a BoS Vertibird awaited Ryan outside the city, along with a four-man squad. "A pleasure to be with you, Paladin Vills," the leader of the squad, a Knight Sergeant Peletier, said as he shook Ryan's hand.

"Prepare for take off everybody," one of the pilots said. Moments later, the Vertibird ascended into the air and took off.

Recon Bunker Theta, or RBT for short, was a pretty impressive sight despite being run by only three members of the Brotherhood. RBT was surrounded by a wall lined with barbed wire and had machinegun turrets on them. In addition, RBT was self-sufficient, growing its own crops and possessing water pumps.

The Vertibird landed on the helipad within the compound, which was guarded by a sentry bot with the Brotherhood insignia on it.

The recent arrivals made their way into the bunker, where Paladin Brandis, the head of the outpost, was. The bunker itself was pretty small, being about the size of the living room of an average pre-war house.

"Welcome to my humble abode, I am Paladin Brandis, head of this outpost," Paladin Brandis introduced. "You must be the Ghoul of Steel, a pleasure to meet a living legend."

"Not really a living legend because I'm a ghoul," Ryan joked. "Anyway, you're right, I'm Paladin Vills. Five of us here are your backup."

Humble was hardly the word to describe the interior of the bunker, with two laser turrets on the ceiling, a set of BoS T-60 power armour standing nearby and a fully-functional generator.

"Thank god backup was actually sent this time. The last time this kind of thing happened I lost my entire squad," Paladin Brandis said casually. "Anyway, regarding your lodging while here, you lot will be staying at the shack beside the helipad. Trust me, it looks better inside than outside."

The shack, which was made out of wood and had a zinc roof, was pretty spacious. There were eight beds, a few working fans, a small living room and even an area to store power armour.

Once they had finished touring the shack, which was where they would be staying for the time being, Paladin Brandis took the soldiers on a tour of the rest of the compound.

Suddenly, the machinegun turrets on one side of the wall started firing. The five soldiers who were being given a tour by Paladin Brandis were on the other side of the wall when it happened. Rushing over, they found a bunch of Gunners attacking the outpost.

These Gunners were not the average ones with assault rifles and ordinary combat armour. Rather, they were armed with the harder-hitting combat rifle and heavy combat armour. But the highlight of the attacking Gunners was an Assaultron in their midst, fighting alongside them.

"Focus on the Assaultron," Ryan told the others. "That thing will be a real pain in the ass if it doesn't die."

Producing a grenade, Paladin Brandis hurled it right into the group of Gunners, near the Assaultron. Its detonation brought about a large burst of energy which completely destroyed the Assaultron, though the Gunners were not as affected by the explosion, only sustaining minor injuries.

"By Roger Maxson!" Ryan croaked. "What was that, Paladin Brandis?"

"It's a pulse grenade," Brandis replied. "A rarity even among high-ranking members of the Brotherhood. As you saw the grenade didn't do much to flesh, but it was like a plague to technological beings."

Without the powerful Assaultron, the Gunners' morale depleted greatly, and the defenders' job became much easier despite their lesser numbers.

However, that was not the last of the attackers. On the adjacent side of the wall synths were scaling over the wall, the barbed wire not doing much to their metallic body.

"Bloody synths!" Knight Sergeant Peletier swore.

As Ryan began to empty his laser rifle cell on the invading synths, he joked, "'Bloody' wouldn't be a good word to describe them, wouldn't it? After all, synths don't bleed."

"Neither do you," said Paladin Brandis with a grin as he drew his own laser rifle named Survivor's Special.

It was largely a one-sided massacre since most of the synths were killed by the soldiers and turrets before they even finished climbing over the wall. Those that managed to get over the wall unscathed were swiftly killed, as they naturally became the priority of the defending Brotherhood members.

Unwilling to lose, the Institute-Gunner alliance pulled one more trick out of its hat. Five Gunners in power armour hopped out of the back of a Gunner Vertibird in midair. The power armour protected them from fall damage. Though their power armour was quite rusty and low-end, it still looked like something out of a pre-war patriotic movie.

Armed with powerful Gauss Rifles, the Gunners were a deadly force. Fortunately, they were all distracted by the arrival of the Brotherhood sentry bot, which began to open fire at them with its minigun.

"Glory to the Brotherhood of Steel!" the sentry bot said in its artificial voice.

"Let the sentry bot deal with this," Paladin Brandis told the others as he began to retreat into the bunker.

As Ryan and the other soldiers did so, they witnessed the sentry bot fire a missile from its missile launcher. The sentry bot was truly a masterpiece, they thought.

With the sentry bot's intervention the battle was won without friendly casualties.

"I hear that this Institute-Gunner alliance have been doing things like that for a while now. Is that so?" Paladin Brandis asked.

Ryan nodded in reply. "I'm afraid so. Their first move was the attack on Cambridge Police Station, which we unfortunately lost. Then they were plotting an attack on Diamond City, gathering their forces in a nearby building. Luckily we managed to foil that particular plot before it could happen."

"Try to get this to the higher-ups. Tell them I said it," Paladin Brandis requested. "Tell them that we need to counterattack. We can't just keep sitting there passively only defending ourselves when needed. This alliance has to perish."

Ryan decided to pass the word straight to Elder Arthur Maxson himself. When the first Vertibird landed to unload Brotherhood forces to scavenge the attackers' equipment, Ryan got onto it and told the two pilots, "I'm Paladin Ryan Vills. I need to get to the Prydwen ASAP."

"We're returning to the Prydwen as well. Might as well bring you along. Hop on, Paladin," a pilot gestured.

Elder Maxson was having a meeting with the three Proctors, Ingram, Teagan and Quinlan when Ryan entered the meeting room.

"What are you doing, Paladin?" Proctor Quinlan asked rhetorically. "Can't you see that we're in a meeting?"

"My apologies," Ryan apologised. "But sirs, I heard that you were having a meeting on the very recent attack on Recon Bunker Theta, which I was present at. I have some word that I'm certain that you would want to hear."

"Let us hear what you have to say, Paladin Vills," Elder Maxson said. "Go ahead."

"Paladin Brandis, head of the Recon Bunker Theta, recommends that we launch a counterattack on the Institute-Gunner alliance. He feels that we cannot just sit and watch as they launch attacks on our outpost," Ryan paused for a moment to catch his breath before continuing, "I feel the same way as well. After all, it's just a matter of time before the alliance feels brave enough to attack the Prydwen itself."  
Proctor Teagan was the first to respond. "This Paladin has a point. Supplies have been lost, ammunition, and all that power armour and firearms when we lost the police station. We also need resources to repair damaged equipment. Do you know how much it takes to repair a damaged Vertibird? We definitely need to do something about them."

"Well then, let us put it to a vote. Do we launch a counterattack on the Institute-Gunner Alliance?" Elder Maxson said. "Those who feel that we should, raise your hands."

Everyone in the room raised their hand. "I see that all of us have agreed on the same thing. For the survival of the Brotherhood, we declare war on the alliance from this day forth, and will not stop until they are defeated."

"Ad Victoriam!" the three Proctors and Ryan cried in unison.


	4. Chapter 4

The Brotherhood of Steel decided that their first and only target would be Gunners plaza, headquarters of the Gunners.

Knowing that it would be a difficult fight, the Brotherhood sent only experienced soldiers on the mission. The mission, being an important one, was headed by Elder Maxson himself.

Three Vertibirds departed from the Prydwen, heading towards Gunners plaza which was southwest of the airship.

As the fleet neared Gunners plaza the back doors of all the aircraft opened. On each ramp of each Vertibird was a Paladin armed with a Fat Man. Ryan was on the ramp of the middle Vertibird, in full X-01 power armour, which he personally had found, returned and repaired.

"Raise your weapons!" Ryan commanded. "Take aim…and fire!"

Three explosions rocked the Gunner compound. Ryan's mini nuke took down the front gate of the plaza. The shots from the other two Paladins destroyed the main building of the headquarters.

Simultaneously soldiers in power armour hopped out of the three Vertibirds. Assembling outside the destroyed front gate, Elder Maxson told the soldiers, "Thanks to the well-placed shots from the Paladins with the Fat Mans, most of our enemies here have been destroyed. But inside, we must remain cautious, because there's no telling how strong the remaining enemies are."

Entering Gunners plaza, the Brotherhood forces were hit by a missile from a missile launcher. It did not affect them much since they were wearing power armour, but it took a while for the dust created by the impact to clear.

When the dust cleared, the Brotherhood forces found themselves surrounded by surviving Gunners and synths. The Gunners were led by a Gunner Commander in power armour while the synths were led by a Courser.

"Attack!" the Gunner Commander commanded.

Elder Maxson was in X-01 Mk. VI power armour, the best type of power armour available in the whole of the Commonwealth. Ryan's X-01 power armour model was only Mk. II, which was expectedly weaker than Elder Maxson's. He was armed with his personal weapon, Final Judgement, a gatling laser that used fusion cores as ammunition. His presence alone brought a lot of courage to the soldiers.

"Kill them!" Elder Maxson yelled. "Ad Victoriam!"

Ryan shot at the synths, who were not as strong as the surviving Gunners but were more plentiful of. Besides, they were easier to spot due to their steel 'skin'.

The battle was not in the favour of the Brotherhood. In minutes the Brotherhood forces were reduced to a small number. They were in a ring, weapons facing outward. Gunners and synths, whose numbers had been drastically reduced but still larger than the Brotherhood forces, formed a larger ring around the soldiers.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," the Gunner Commander said. "But your persistence won't do you much good for long. Do you want to continue being brave soldiers and fight to the death? Or use your brains a little and surrender?"

"You talk too much," Elder Maxson sneered. "Prepare, Paladins. Prepare to end their sorry, sorry lives and turn the Commonwealth into a better place."

Suddenly, a fourth Vertibird showed up. The insignias painted onto the sides of the Vertibird were familiar to most. It was the insignia of the Commonwealth Minutemen, with whom the Brotherhood of Steel had an alliance with.

A squad of Minutemen in T-60 power armour jumped out of the back of the Vertibird. They were led by Preston Garvey, a senior member of the Minutemen. He was using a modified laser musket, the signature weapon of his organisation.

"We thought you might need some help," Preston said as he fired his musket at the enemy.

Their morale lifted, the Brotherhood forces aided their allies in defeating the Institute-Gunner alliance forces in the plaza. Halfway through though, Final Judgement ran out of ammunition.

"Shit, I'm out of fusion cores!" Elder Maxson shouted, hoping that one of the nearby soldiers had spare fusion cores.

Luckily a nearby Minuteman had retrieved a fusion core from a fallen Gunner and tossed it over to Elder Maxson. "Here you go, sir!"

"My thanks, Minuteman!" Elder Maxson said in reply and continued firing from Final Judgement.

Soon all the Gunners and synths in the compound were defeated. However, the battle was not over yet. Brotherhood and Minutemen forces spread out across Gunners plaza, seeing if there were anymore enemies to kill.

After a while the soldiers regrouped right outside Gunners plaza. There the Brotherhood and Minutemen forces exchanged greetings and thanks with one another. Elder Maxson learned that the Minuteman who had given him the fusion core earlier on was Colonel Reginald Vills, a high-ranking member of the Minutemen. He was also cousin to Ryan.

"Jesus, cousin? Reginald, is that you?" Ryan said as he walked over to the Minuteman.

Reginald turned and looked at the Paladin in power armour. "Me, cousin? You are…"

Stepping out of his power armour, Ryan introduced himself. "Ryan Vills, your cousin!"

"Ryan? How the hell did you become a ghoul?" Reginald was stunned. "And how are you still in the Brotherhood of Steel?"

"That's a long story for another day, Reginald," Ryan said, chuckling as he saw Reginald's expression. "Never thought we would be meeting under such…circumstances."  
"Definitely. Maybe we could, um, catch up some day? Maybe over a drink or two in the Colonial Taphouse in Diamond City or something?" Reginald suggested.

"Certainly," Ryan said.

Back aboard the Prydwen, the Brotherhood soldiers celebrated their victory. But before the celebrations began, Elder Maxson made a speech.

"Gunners plaza might have been destroyed, but the Institute-Gunner alliance has not. Though our attack has certainly weakened the alliance and their forces, they are not completely destroyed. We will have to remain vigilant, as we always have," Elder Maxson cleared his throat and went on, "But for now, we have done enough to earn us some rest and fun. So I say, enjoy ourselves and let the celebrations begin!"


End file.
